Prospector&#39;s pan.



UNITEDv STATES Patented May 24, 1904.

.PATENT OFFICE.

PROSPECTORS PAN.

,SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. '760,691, dated May 24, 1904.

Application fileI April 9, 1903. Serial Na 151,782. (No model.)

To cir/ZZ whom it may concern: Be it known that I, BEVERLY P. HERNDON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Florence, county of Pinal, and Territory of Arizona, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prospectors Pans, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to prospectorsf pans. vThe object of the present invention is the provision of a prospectors pan which on account of its improved and novel form will be The invention is set forth fully hereinaftery and its novel features embodied in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a top plan view; Fig. 2, a bottom plan view; Fig. 3, a transverse section; Fig. 4, a side eleL vation, and Fig. 5 an enlarged detail of one of the corners or horns of the pan.

The pan will by preference be of sheet-iron 0r untempered sheet-steel and when used by quartz or vein miners of about eight or nine inches in length, while for placer prospectors it will be from twelve to sixteen inches long.

The general shape of the pan is that of a lune, having a at bottoml, a comparatively low somewhat curved wall 2, which flares or inclines outwardly at a small angle to the bottom' 1, and a relatively high wall 3, flared outwardly or inclined relatively at an angle of about forty-tive degrees, more or less, to the bottom l and in its general contour struck on an arc considerably more pronounced than the arc or curve of the wall 2. The ends or horns 4 and 5 of the pan are pocketed or made abrupt, as more clearly shownin Fig. 5.

The iat bottom l affords a firm and stable support for the pan when it is set down, so that tipping over,with incident spilling of the contents or pulp, is prevented,while the-lune shape renders carrying of the pan in the pocket convenient and gives the desired results in use with a minimum quantity of water. The pan is intended to make test of ores,

bars for placer-gold deposits.

gravels, and sands in gulches and creeks or It can also be used in mills and concentrating plants to test the tailings wasting'from the ores to ascertain it' amalgam or minerals are -passing otf with If desired, ore can be ground y the tailings. and placed in the pan and roasted over a lire, thus evaporating sulfur and pyrite ores, leaving the gold Jfree, so it` can be detected by the eye.

In using the pan it is held by the two hands a-t the points b and the water and ground rock or gravel is wasted out at the point a. nearly all the ground rock is wasted, the remainingheavy rock, iron, lead, or other metal is wasted with less water at either of the ypoints b, (the horns 4 and 5,) the pan being held at the pointed. The heavy rock or coarser vparticles leave rst, then the iron, lead, and

When.

silver, being nearly 'of the same weight, pass out, leaving the free gold in the pan at the points c. Herein is the advantage of having the horns 4 and 5 'pocketed or abrupt, as they retain the heavyv metals until by manipulation the operator desires them to pass from the pan. In using the pan it is worked in a tilted position either toward or away from the operator.

The peculiar lune shape of the pan renders it easy to carry in the pocket and prevents denting or bending from hard usage.,

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A portable prospectors pan having a bottom and side walls, said side walls being curved transversely or laterally in relationv to the bottom and the pan being of substantial lune shape in general contour.

2. A prospectors pan having walls provided with pocketed open corners.

3. A prospectors pan of lune shape having pocketed open horns.

4. A prospectors pan of lune shape having a flat bottom, a curved and flared high wall, a low wall, and pocketed horns. V

, In testimony whereof I hereunto aliX my u 

